These sample scans are from the original record. You will get scans of the full pages or articles where the surname you searched for has been found.

Your web browser may prevent the sample windows from opening; in this case please change your browser settings to allow pop-up windows from this site.

Patent Rolls: entries for Somerset
(1276-1277)Calendars of the patent rolls of the reign of king Edward I are printed in the Calendars of State Papers: but these cover only a fraction of the material on the rolls. From 1881 to 1889 the reports of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Record Office also include calendars of other material from the rolls - about five times as many entries as in the State Papers - predominantly mandates to the royal justices to hold sessions of oyer and terminer to resolve cases arising locally; but also other general business. The calendar for the 5th year of king Edward I [20 November 1276 to 19 November 1277], hitherto unindexed, is covered here.

BERILL. Cost: £6.00.

Sample scan, click to enlarge

Close Rolls
(1333-1337)The close rolls of the 7th to 10th years of the reign of king Edward III, that is from 25 January 1333 to 24 January 1337, record the main artery of government administration in England, the orders sent out day by day to individual officers, especially sheriffs of shires: they are an exceptionally rich source for so early a period. In amongst this official material, the rolls were also used as a way of recording many acknowledgments of private debts and contracts between individuals. Most of the contents relate to England, but there are also entries concerning Wales, Scotland, Ireland and the English possessions in France: particularly Scotland, where the king was campaigning during this period. This calendar was prepared by A. B. Hinds of the Public Record Office and published in 1898.

BERILL. Cost: £4.00.

Sample scan, click to enlarge

Official Papers
(1645-1647)The State Papers Domestic are the main series of records of internal British administration for this period. The volumes printed in abstract here (Charles I dx to dxv) run from July 1645 to December 1647, a period of defeat of royal power by the parliamentary forces. Parliament's victory at Naseby in June 1645 led to the collapse of the Royalist cause and the imprisonment of the king in Carisbrooke Castle towards the close of 1647. During all these events the administration of government continued, largely using the same institutions, leaving similar series of records as before: but executive power is now represented in these books by the Committee of Both Kingdoms (England and Scotland). The State Papers Domestic for these years are largely concerned with the prosecution of hostilities, the movements and supply of troops, and the treatment of 'delinquents'. Chronologically interleaved with the abstracts of the main volumes are details from the series of Proceedings of the Committee of Both Kingdoms, but these are lost for the years 1646 to 1647, brief notes only surviving in the Indexes to the Day Book of Orders. There are also appendices relating to the victualling and disposition of the Navy, taken from the Letters and Papers of the Committee for the Admiralty and the Committe of the Navy, which also include some petitions from sailors, victuallers, officials, or their dependants, seeking redress or relief.

BERILL. Cost: £4.00.

Sample scan, click to enlarge

British merchant seamen
(1835-1840)At this period, the foreign trade of ships plying to and from the British isles involved about 150,000 men on 15,000 ships; and the coasting trade about a quarter as many more. A large proportion of the seamen on these ships were British subjects, and so liable to be pressed for service in the Royal Navy; but there was no general register by which to identify them, so in 1835 parliament passed a Merchant Seamen's Registration Bill. Under this act a large register of British seamen was compiled, based on ships' crew lists gathered in British and Irish ports, and passed up to the registry in London. A parliamentary committee decided that the system devised did not answer the original problem, and the original register was abandoned after less than two years: the system was then restarted in this form, with a systematic attempt to attribute the seamen's (ticket) numbers, and to record successive voyages. The register records the number assigned to each man; his name; age; birthplace; quality (S = seaman, &c.); and the name and official number of his ship, with the date of the crew list (usually at the end of a voyage). Most of the men recorded were born in the British Isles, but not all. The system was still very cumbersome, because the names were amassed merely under the first two letters of surname; an attempt was made to separate out namesakes by giving the first instance of a name (a), the second (b), and so on. During 1840 this series of ledgers was abandoned, and a new set started with names grouped together by surname. BT 112/4

BERILL. Cost: £8.00.

Sample scan, click to enlarge

Electors for Long Compton
(1868)A poll for the election of two knights of the shire to represent South Warwickshire was held 24 November 1868: the candidates were Lord Hyde (H.), Sir R. N. C. Hamilton (H.), H. C. Wise, Esq. (W.) and John Hardy, Esq. (H.). This poll book lists all those electors who voted; the county franchise included not only male freeholders of 40s a year, but also £10 copyholders and long-leaseholders, and £50 short-leaseholders and tenants. In addition, where no vote was cast the elector's number and name are given, the name in italics. The names are arranged by polling district and then by parish or township. Freeholders holding requisite property in a district are listed there, but might well reside elsewhere. The right-hand column indicates how each man voted.